The Millennium Stadium roof will be closed for Judgement Day III after over 70 per cent of voting fans made the call in an online poll.

The decision on closing the national ground’s famous roof for tomorrow’s match (Saturday), which has already a attracted a fast-approaching 50,000-strong crowd, was put to a public vote this week in an unprecedented move by event organisers.

The host regions for the Guinness Pro12 back-to-back derby day, the Newport Gwent Dragons and Cardiff Blues, in consultation with the away teams, the Ospreys and the Scarlets, agreed to ‘go to the polls’.

Always a talking point, the roof situation seems to grip the imagination of the watching public every time a major event comes to town and thousands of votes were cast in the 40hr period fans were given to make their ‘open or shut’ case.

The Blues take on the Ospreys (KO 2.30pm) and the Dragons face the Scarlets (4.45pm) in the third Guinness PRO 12 double-header to be held in the Welsh capital.

A record crowd is already expected with tickets (£10) available via the wru website’s print-at-home service (wru.wales/tickets) up until 12 noon tomorrow, from the WRU shop on Westgate Street and at Gate 6, right up until kick-off.

Millennium Stadium manager Mark Williams is encouraging any fans who have yet to commit, to get their tickets early to avoid the large walk-up crowds expected on the day. “We are expecting a few thousand fans to march on the Millennium Stadium on Saturday afternoon looking to pick up tickets,” said Williams. “That’s great news for the event and it shows how Judgement Day has really captured the imagination this year. “We have the capacity to cope with that kind of demand, but we would like to strongly advise fans who want to avoid the queues to buy their tickets in advance or use the ‘print-at-home’ service which we provide online right up to match-day.”

TICKET INFO: Tickets for Judgement Day III, costing £10 each (not including booking fees), can be purchased from: WRU Ticket Office: 02920 822432 (www.wru.wales/tickets, where print-at-home will be available up until 12 noon on match day) or by calling ticket master on 0844 847 1881